Tag Archives: politicians

Several months ago I wrote a post called “The Summer Reading List” in which I suggested that agenda promotion in required reading was unlikely to generate much interest from its target (and captive) audience. Turns out it’s worse than that–it forces the beleaguered college student to wrestle with politicians and the American Civil Liberties Union, too.

The agenda at the College of Charleston (Charleston, SC) for the current academic year–acceptance of “the gay and lesbian lifestyle”–may seem somewhat dated but, hey, things are slow down here. This is where a crowd of planters started the Civil War, and we’re still fighting it. The book chosen to begin the “conversation” (as the College would have it) or “indoctrination” (Republican legislators) is Fun Home, an “illustrated memoir” by Alison Bechdel, also the author of a long-running comic strip called “Dykes to Watch Out For.” As a result, the Budget Committee of the South Carolina legislature, concerned about the callow sensibilities of the College’s freshmen and hoping to forestall similar offerings, docked the school $52,000, the entire cost of its summer reading program. Continue reading →